If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Hi there. It is time to do fall medicating in Oregon (or so I'm told by old beekeepers) and I was told to use Fumidil (?) so I bought some. Onreading the instructions, I now realize that I have to have some way to feed it to them. Do I need to buy a feeder, or is there something simple I could make that would do the trick? I do have woodworking equipment and lots of wood kicking around. Or is there some way to just attach a jar...?
thanks for the help!

I wouldn't feed it. I have a bottle on the shelf, but have never used any. If you want to improvise a feeder they are simple enough. You can punch small holes in the lid of a mason jar and put it on the hole in the inner cover with a box on top and a lid on that. You can put almost any container on top of the inner cover, where the bees can get up into it and put floats in the container (so the bees don't drown) and syrup in that. You can take any container that will hold syrup when it's upside down and poke holes in the lid in the shape of the hole in the inner cover.

If you search this site for "feeders" you'll find all sorts of ideas on how to feed.

Thanks. I'll have a look around. I was just looking at your "simplicity" post. I would like to have as few chemicals involved as possible. Is there a way of knowing whether I would need the Fumidil, apart from taking some samples in to a lab?
I like your idea of having all same size boxes. We are doing 8 frame because I don't anticipate ever doing this on more than small scale, and I myself am on a bit of a small scale!... When you don't weigh too much over a hundred pounds, the weight of full boxes becomes important!

&gt;Thanks. I'll have a look around. I was just looking at your "simplicity" post. I would like to have as few chemicals involved as possible. Is there a way of knowing whether I would need the Fumidil, apart from taking some samples in to a lab?

"The only positive way of identifying the disease is through dissection of adult bees. The hind gut and digestive tract of diseased bees are chalky white or milky white. Healthy bees, on the other hand, have amber or translucent digestive tracts. In addition, individual circular constrictions of a healthy bee's gut are visible, whereas the gut of an infected bee may be swollen and the constrictions not clearly visible." ABJ

Nosema isn't that hard to diagnose yourself, but if your bees don't have dysentary, I wouldn't worry about it. If they DO have dysentary, you can field strip a bee and tell if they have it.

&gt;I like your idea of having all same size boxes. We are doing 8 frame because I don't anticipate ever doing this on more than small scale, and I myself am on a bit of a small scale!... When you don't weigh too much over a hundred pounds, the weight of full boxes becomes important!

Full medium 8 frame boxes are a joy to lift, especially after lifting deep 10 frame boxes. I like the 8 frame equipment, it's just that there isn't a lot of competition on prices and there's always some gadget I'd like to try that isn't made for 8 frame boxes. My other theory is to try to get the hives horizontal so I don't have to lift ANY boxes except whatever I put the frames of honey in when I rob the hive. I HATE moving 5 heavy medium supers and then a heavy deep food chamber to get to the brood chamber at the bottom, to see if it's doing well and is queenright. Then I have to put them all back.

Mostly standardization is a matter of being able to interchange frames whereever you need them.

[This message has been edited by Michael Bush (edited September 17, 2003).]

Becky, Same here..I'm in Portland. Drop me aline at bbieger@hotmail.com. If you really want to feed I can let you borrow a miller feeder. I really like the design (built it form the plans on this website. I also have some screened botom boards that I'm looking to sell.